Book Description

War. Magic. A lover's betrayal. A dark secret lies beneath them all. Each year, Democryos sends his brightest student into the war-torn countryside to work magic. But when his wife leaves him for a mysterious stranger, he finds his own life ravaged. Forsaking the comfort of the citadel, he searches for her, traveling through the same forgotten lands where he sent his students. Along the way, he befriends an elusive member of the king’s harem, a holy man harboring guilt, and a maimed soldier. Together, they stumble upon a key—not only to the war, but to understanding the magic of voidance itself. "Wozniak's medieval world, as described, is a beautiful one; from the sky, it "looks like thousands of curved pieces of glass" covering everything "in blues and greens." The book also wonderfully handles the notion of a preindustrial society discovering the atomic structure of nature. Yet the plot's human elements--which include romance, drug addiction, and trust across philosophical lines--often shine brightest. Revelations and combat converge in the propulsive finale, and Wozniak's strong imagination will rope fans in." - Kirkus Reviews